Zakiya shines at the talent show

If you attended the annual DuxBuds on April 4th, you must have felt goosebumps while listening to the incredible voice of the sophomore Zakiya P. She lighted the audience with her deep and controlled voice under the song A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke.

“I wanted to let people hear my voice [because] I just really love to sing,” she said.

Zakiya seemed very natural on stage.

“I wasn’t nervous, not one bit,” she said. “I just really love to sing on stage, it makes me feel lifted, as if I’m on clouds.”

She doesn’t take any singing lessons, but it didn’t stop the standing ovation at the end of her song.

Emma L. was attending the show that night.

“I thought it was so good. I wasn’t expecting that level of performance! My friends and I were blown away.”

Afterward, Zakiya reflected on the whirlwind experience.

“I felt relieved and calm. Everyone was complimenting me so that was kind of a rush.”

Zakiya’s choice of song was more about the message behind the lyrics than anything else.

“A Change is Gonna Come isn’t really one of my favorite songs but it’s a very slow and emotional song that has a very deep meaning behind it.”

Cooke composed this civil-rights-themed song in 1964. He wrote it in protest of the violence that took place in Selma, Alabama during a march for voting rights where some state troopers gassed and beat a number of Participants.

“It was just so different from everybody but in a good way. She has so much talent; it was definitely my favorite performance of the night,” said Paige G.

Zakiya grew up in Trinidad. She loves to play steel pan, watch The Office and make covers of music on her phone.

“She is an extremely fun person,” said friend Isabel F. “always a smile on her face and making jokes.”